7 Indians who scored a century on Test debut away from home

Young Indian batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal stole the show when he scored a well-made century in his very first Test match for his country. Team India are currently locking horns with the West Indies in a Test match at the Windsor Park in Dominica.

After opting to bat first, the hosts struggled against the Indian spinners, especially Ravichandran Ashwin. The off-spinner wreaked havoc and took a brilliant five-wicket haul, breaking the back of the Caribbean batting unit.

His partner-in-crime Ravindra Jadeja also took three important wickets as India restricted the West Indies to 150 in 64.3 overs.

In reply, India got off to a wonderful start as Rohit Sharma and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal took India's score to 80/0 by the end of the first day's play.

On Day 2, both the openers went on to hit their respective hundreds as India posted a big total of 421/5 before declaring their innings with a 271-run lead in the first innings.

Jaiswal, in particular, was fabulous for the visitors as he broke several records during his brilliant knock. Scoring a hundred on debut is no mean feat, and doing so away from home is even tougher for a young lad.

However, Jaiswal isn't the first Indian to achieve this feat. There have been six other Indian batsmen previously who scored a Test hundred on their debuts, away from home.

In this listicle, we will take a look at all seven of the Indians who scored debut Test centuries in foreign lands.

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#7 Abbas Ali Baig - 112 vs England in Manchester

Abbas Ali Baig became the first-ever Indian player to score a hundred on Test debut outside home. He did so when he smashed 112 runs against England during the fourth Test of India's tour of England in 1959 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

England made 490 runs in the first innings and gained an advantage in the game by bundling out India for 208 runs. The hosts didn't enforce a follow-on and scored 265/8 in their second innings.

India were asked to chase down a steep target of 518 runs. The visitors were still not quite out of the match when Ali Baig was in charge. He smoked a hundred and provided a supporting hand to Polly Umrigar, who also scored a century.

Despite Biag's and Umrigar's efforts, the target was too much and India endured a collapse before getting all out for 376.

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#6 Surinder Amarnath - 124 vs New Zealand in Auckland

Surinder Amarnath for India [ICC]

An agressive left-handed batter, Surinder Amarnath played 10 Tests and three ODIs for India. His cricket career was overshadowed by his brother Mohinder Amarnath's achievements, but Surinder was a classy batter himself.

Surinder enjoyed a great start to his Test career when he scored 124 runs in his first innings as a Test batter against New Zealand in Auckland in 1976. He stitched up an excellent partnership of 204 runs for the second wicket with legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who scored 116.

Surinder's innings proved to be of huge importance as India went on to win the game by eight wickets.

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#5 Pravin Amre - 103 vs South Africa in Durban

Pravin Amre against South Africa [Getty Images]

Another player who started his Test career with a bang but failed to elongate his career is Pravin Amre.

The middle-order batter played his first game at the Kingsmead in Durban against South Africa in 1992. On the back of Kepler Wessels' hundred, the hosts made 254 in their first innings.

In reply, India found themselves under immense pressure when they lost seven of their wickets with only 146 runs on the board. That's when debutant Pravin Amre came up with a high-quality knock and bailed India out of trouble.

Amre played out 299 balls for his 103 runs and took India from 146/7 to 277/10. The match ended in a draw but Amre was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his knock.

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#4 Sourav Ganguly - 131 vs England in London

Sourav Ganguly of India during his debut century

Having the opportunity to play your first-ever Test match at the 'home of cricket' at Lord's and eventually managing to score a fantastic century in front of a packed crowd. That's what Sourav Ganguly pulled off when India toured England for a three-match Test series in 1996.

After losing the first Test in Birmingham, India handed debuts to two young batters in Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Both took to international cricket like a duck to water.

While both Ganguly and Dravid went on to become two of the all-time legends, they also did phenomenally well in their Lord's debut. While Dravid was unfortunate to miss out on a well-deserved hundred, Ganguly went on to make history and register a score of 131 runs.

The southpaw helped India gain a first-innings lead of 85 runs before the match ended in a draw. Interestingly, Ganguly continued his merry run in the next game as well and notched up another hundred in Nottingham. He thus became only the second Indian, by then, to register back-to-back Test hundreds in his first two Tests.

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#3 Virender Sehwag - 105 vs South Africa in Bloemfontein

2nd Test Australia v India Day Three

From one legendary player to another, Virender Sehwag also features in this list as he announced his arrival at the Test arena with a resounding hundred against South Africa.

Batting at No. 6 in his maiden innings, Sehwag managed to pile up 220 runs for the sixth wicket alongside his idol Sachin Tendulkar. The duo took India from 68/4 to 288/4 before Tendulkar lost his wicket after a magnificent century.

Afterwards, Sehwag went on to raise his bat as well, scoring 105 runs off 173 balls. Although India lost that match, Sehwag's innings showcased how special he is going to be for his country going forward.

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#2 Suresh Raina - 120 vs Sri Lanka in Colombo

Suresh Raina

The last Indian to hit a Test century on debut outside India before Jaiswal was none other than Suresh Raina. While Raina's Test career fizzled out due to his shortcomings against pace and swing, he did deliver a memorable knock in his maiden Test against Sri Lanka.

The surface in Colombo offered nothing for the bowlers as the hosts piled up 642/4 on the back of Kumar Sangakkara's marathon innings of 219 runs.

In reply, India too made the Sri Lankan bowlers toil hard as they scored as many as 707 runs. For India, Sachin Tendulkar played a masterful innings of 203 runs, and in company with Raina, he stitched up a 256-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Raina, who played 228 balls, smashed 12 boundaries and a couple of maximums to bring up 120 runs. While the match expectedly ended in a draw, Raina scored crucial 103 runs across both innings of the next Test, which India won.

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#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal - 171 vs West Indies in Dominica

Yashasvi Jaiswal played a high-quality knock vs WI [Getty Images]

As mentioned earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal became the latest Indian player to hit a century on Test debut outside India.

Jaiswal, who scored 171 runs after toiling hard for 387 balls, showcased great temperament. Despite the surface being on the slower side, the 21-year-old showed a lot of grit and remained adamant about scoring big and extending India's lead.

Jaiswal stitched a record-breaking opening partnership of 229 runs alongside Rohit Sharma (103 off 221). In a great display of batsmanship, the left-hander batted for 501 minutes in total, which is now the most minutes an Indian batter has batted on a Test debut.

Just when the young lad was looking forward to converting his century to a double ton, he edged one to the keeper. Having said that, the high-quality innings by Jaiswal showed that the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands.